By
Pamela S. Thibodeaux
It
happens….Life, death, illness or (fill in the blank) and the last thing you
want to do, or feel able to do, is anything writing related.
So
how do you keep your career as an author from falling into obscurity?
In
2009 my husband passed away and I was forced to deal with these questions.
Here’s what I did….
Keep your blog alive. Even if that means mostly guest
posts with an occasional personal one thrown in. Your readers care about you so
they’ll understand. If you look at my blog, you’ll see that 2012 has the least
amount of posts since I started in 2007. Strange since he passed in 2009,
right? Not really, sometimes the first year or two after a death, you’re still
numb and on automatic pilot.
Continue to Network. Attend writer meetings and/or
conferences. You may not be writing again, but networking with your peers
always helps alleviate the pain and loneliness of your situation. Your fellow
writers understand and care, so they will help and support you.
Continue to market
yourself and your existing books,
even on a limited basis. This includes keeping your newsletter going or
starting one. My newsletter is ‘occasional’ anyway so it was easy to stay in
touch with my readers a couple of times after my husband’s death. The love and
support shown to me was (and still is) something that kept/keeps me going when
I felt/feel like giving up.
Take or Teach a
class. Again, you
may not be able to do anything with what you learn but you’ll never forget it
either and teaching others what you already know can help you stay connected to
that part of yourself that feels closed off or shut down.
Journal about your
experience.
Writing is cathartic and you never know when a nonfiction opportunity will
arise and you can share your story to help someone else.
Work on existing
projects. This was
easy for me because I had so many projects in various stages of completion. Many
were actually published between 2009 and 2014. However, I’ve been unable to
write and complete something brand new
until my novella, Keri’s Christmas Wish, which debuted Dec. 2015.
Work in the Industry. Look for opportunities to edit or
market other writers. Many small publishers and/or promotion companies will
utilize freelancers. Offer to write a magazine column or find places to submit
your old articles, essays, etc. Any of these options keep your name in front of
people. In 2011 I helped create an Ezine, The Wordsmith Journal. In 2012 I
bought and continued the publication until 2013 when I sold it, but even then, I
continued to work with TWJ Magazine until the
end of 2016.
These
are a few ways in which I kept my writing career going even though, with the
exception of a couple of nonfiction pieces, I wasn’t really writing. I’d love
to hear how you managed to get through a tough situation / life crisis and keep
your career somewhat afloat.
____________________________________________________________________________
Award-winning
author, Pamela S. Thibodeaux is the Co-Founder and a lifetime member of Bayou
Writers Group in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Multi-published in romantic fiction
as well as creative non-fiction, her writing has been tagged as, “Inspirational
with an Edge!” ™ and reviewed as “steamier
and grittier than the typical Christian novel without decreasing the message.” Links: Website address: http://www.pamelathibodeaux.com Blog: http://pamswildroseblog.blogspot.com Face Book: http://facebook.com/pamelasthibodeaux
Twitter: http://twitter.com/psthib
@psthib Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/pamelasthibodea/
Amazon Author Page: http://amzn.to/1jUVcdU BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/pamela-s-thibodeaux
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